05/01/2017 Look East (West)

How a hospital missed a woman's deep vein thrombosis.

Tributes to the two young men killed in a suspected hit-and-run.

I'm more frost expected with freezing fog patches. Join me for

the weather forecast. A pensioner who went to A

with leg pains was sent home with painkillers

and died hours later, Joan Hawes went to Addenbrooke's

Hospital in July, correctly Mike Cartwright reports

on how medics missed it. Joan Hawes, 77, who told nurses

the pain in her knee But instead, ligament

strain was misdiagnosed Arriving at the inquest,

her daughters and a family friend. Steven, her son, drove his mother

to Addenbrooke's that morning. She was in terrible pain,

he said, her knee swollen. His mother repeatedly telling staff,

a blood clot was to blame. The inquest told a nurse had

ordered blood tests to look for a deep vein thrombosis -

a clot, but when Joan saw nurse practitioner Andrew Carr,

there was no information If he had known there

were concerns about clots, he said he would have referred Joan

to other medical staff. But instead, he gave her

painkillers and sent her home. Later learning blood tests had been

ordered, he cancelled them. Their solicitor today

spoke for them. The family are understandably deeply

distressed at what has happened to Mrs Hawes -

an otherwise fit and healthy woman. They were looking to the inquest

for answers and in some respects, the admissions from Addenbrooke's

have gone a long way But the inquest still has

an important function to perform and the conclusions will help

further illuminate this tragedy. The hospital trust says

an investigation was carried out to make sure lessons could be

learned from what happened to Joan and a detailed action plan put

in place to improve the way deep vein thrombosis is

recognised and treated. Their mother died at home

sometime during the night. Her death brought on by a blood clot

that medical staff failed to find. She had been a healthy person. The

coroner concluded she died of natural causes. He noted that when

she arrived at the hospital she had not been referred to a member of the

medical team. Nor heard the deep vein thrombosis beam depicted.

So what exactly is Deep Vein Thrombosis

Simply put, it's a blood clot in a deep vein, usually in the leg.

Deep veins pass through the centre of the leg, through the muscles

of the calf and thigh and carry the blood towards the heart.

But when you have Deep Vein Thrombosis,

the flow can be partially, or completely, blocked.

Sometimes, there are no symptoms, but they can include - pain,

swelling and tenderness in one or both sides of hip or legs,

warm skin in the area of the clot, red skin at the back of the leg

and below the knee and low-grade temperature.

But I've spoken to an expert tonight, who says

a doctor would always take into account two factors.

They would also look at whether the person is on the pill.

Have they been immobile for a long period?

Have they had recent surgery on a hip or leg?

Is there a family history of blood clots?

If there are two factors, then the patient should be referred

There is a risk if DVT is left untreated, that

about one in ten people will develop a pulmonary embolism,

which causes breathlessness and chest pain.

I have spoken to a DVT patient this evening,

who got the condition during a long-haul flight.

She has spoken about how important it is to contact your GP right away.

But also, give your GP the right information.

In fact, she is so passionate about this message that she has

launched an awareness campaign which can be found at

Friends of the two men killed in an apparent hit and run incident

near Peterborough have been paying tribute to them today.

The victims, who have been named locally as Thomas Northam

and Thomas Fletcher, were walking along the B1091 near

Yaxley on Tuesday morning when they were struck by a BMW.

Today, the local vicar said the men will be remembered

in a service this Sunday. Stuart Ratcliffe reports.

Two days on from this apparent hit and run

and tributes are still being laid at the scene where two men named

locally as Thomas Fletcher and Thomas Northam, were killed.

It is no exaggeration to say that there is still a real sense

of horror here in Yaxley at what took place on Tuesday.

And from the people I have spoken to, it is clear that both young

men were well known, well liked and well loved.

Earlier this afternoon, I spoke to Thomas Fletcher's mum,

who told me she still can't believe what has happened.

And she told me that her son had only just returned from holiday

The two men were walking between Yaxley and Facet

The driver of which then fled the scene on foot.

And for friends of the men, emotions are understandably

Tom Northam was the best friend I've ever had.

We spent birthdays together, went on holiday together,

always talked, spent a lot of time together.

Tom Northam was funny, he always knew how to make everyone smile.

When I found out, I finished work and my friend told me straight away,

It is not something I wanted to believe.

And now it is something, I'm going to miss them both.

Yaxley has a strong and vibrant community spirit.

And this weekend, prayers will also be said in the village church.

It is just desperate, desperate sadness.

We didn't know the families at the time but now we know

who they are, just a desperate sense of loss and just a desire to reach

out to these families, we will be offering to support them

and as I said already, we will be praying for

them and doing whatever we can to support them.

Earlier this week, a 38-year-old man was arrested, 80

on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving

He is now being questioned by officers in Cambridgeshire.

2017 holds some big changes to local government in Cambridgeshire.

The devolution deal was signed late last year and, this May, the county

It will have big impact on how local decisions are made,

as our political reporter Tom Barton explains.

We are all used to elections - for Parliament, for councils and,

more recently, for police commissioners,

but this May, in Cambridgeshirem, there will be an election that has

At the moment, in most parts of the country, there are

District councils look after issues like housing and waste collection,

while bigger county councils are responsible for social

But in Cambridgeshire, a new devolution deal will see

the introduction of a third tier of local government.

People say it is a new layer of government, but some

faceless bureaucrat in Whitehall has been

making these decisions. It will be a local voice now.

That will be making decisions about some big issues.

They will have the power to spend millions on building new homes.

They will get control over the local training budget.

And they will have power and money for new transport projects.

What do the people who will elect the new mayor think?

We have enough people in all the local councils, so why can't

Especially if he knows Cambridge well, it could be good for us.

What we are doing is adding a layer of cost,

without providing a full democratic freedom.

The mayor will work with a combined authority,

made up of all the council leaders in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

It met before Christmas, to start laying the groundwork

Local business also has a voice and their

representative sees the new mayor as a vitally-important figure.

This is the spokesperson for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

It gives us access to a global audience and, therefore, one person.

We have seen how the Mayor of London is represented.

All eyes are now focused on the election when Cambridgeshire

will join the likes of Manchester and Sheffield

as one of just half a dozen areas with a new devolved mayor.

The government has announced a ?100 million investment

in the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey.

The money will be used to upgrade its Rothera Research Station,

and allow the organisation to conduct more ambitious explorations.

The base will be home to the new research ship,

That is the late news from Look East.

I will leave you with the weather, from Alex.

It is another cold night around the region, with temperatures

Also the added problem of freezing fog patches.

They are likely to develop quite widely

across the region overnight tonight, becoming quite dense in places.

Also, some icy patches on untreated surfaces.

So, minus 1-2 Celsius in many places, but it could be

a degree or two lower in those frost-prone spots.

So, we start the day tomorrow on a cold note.

This weather system is coming in from the north-west.

That will eventually bring some rain and some milder

Freezing fog patches lingering through the morning in some places.

Then, a little bit brighter, with perhaps some sunshine,

before cloud increases from the west and this weather front brings

But it will be a cold day, with high temperatures of just

For the afternoon and evening, that rain spreading in from

The national weather is coming up, but here is

Milder, but cloudier, for the weekend.

maybe nine Celsius. Here is Louise with the national picture.

Won't it cold and frosty this morning? The coldest night of the

winter so far in England. Down to minus 8